State v. G.B.

Summarized by:

  • Court: Oregon Court of Appeals
  • Area(s) of Law: Civil Commitment
  • Date Filed: 10-02-2024
  • Case #: A179656
  • Judge(s)/Court Below: Before Ortega, Presiding Judge, Powers, Judge, and Hellman, Judge.
  • Full Text Opinion

"[G]iven the totality of the circumstances before the trial court when it ruled, we conclude that the court made a choice outside the permis-sible range of discretion"

Appellant requested a continuance to a civil commitment hearing due to insufficient time to contact witnesses to corroborate the doubt they cast on the state’s diagnosis. The trial court granted a 20 hour extension. At the second hearing, appellant moved for another continuance for the same reasons. The trial court denied this motion, and the appellant was sentenced to 180 days civil commitment. This determination is reviewed at abuse of discretion. The court found that, because of the short duration of the continuance, the inaccessibility of counsel in that time, the reasonable amount of time need to develop evidence, the lack of a renewed objection to a continuance by the state, and the testimony that cast doubt on the state’s diagnosis, the trial court abused their discretion in denying the second motion to continue. Reverse outright.

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